I can't really speak for what restaurants do receptions - but I can review the few we tried in January.

There are MANY fabulous restaurants on St. John. (we went for a vacation at new years) My favorite is Rumbe lines (sp?) hands down. Delicious original food and great atmosphere. The food at the Lime Inn is also spectacular. And I think they do receptions. I think remember reading that somewhere. The service was also very good there.

The Banana Deck was nothing special- but has a nice patio set up that would work well for an outdoor reception. The Beach Bar -nor high tide would be good for a reception but (I think its high tide) the one right next the ferry had frozen drinks that were the best we had (lime in de coconut anyone?).

Paradiso in Mongoose Junction was tasty- but overpriced and fails to effectively merge island vibe and fine dining so we felt pretty ridiculous eating there. - It is however one of the few places that is air conditioned- which is why we tried it on the one hot and breezeless night.

Asolare comes up often as the best fine dining on the island, but we didn't try it b/c we couldn't walk there from our B&B. (If any of your family is looking for a nice B&B- we stayed at Garden by the Sea and were very pleased).

I know we went some other places but names are escaping me and we certainly walked by many more so feel free to ask for atleast a general impression or questions about St. John in general! (we didn't try zo-zo's because there were so many options- but the place always had a wait and is very popular i think).

When we vacationed in St. John, we tried Morgan's Mango, the Banana Deck, Fish Trap, the Beach Bar and a tapas place. We enjoyed the food the most at Banana Deck and Beach Bar. I'm not sure that any of the places we tried would be great for a reception. Either they're too casual or appeared too cramped to host a reception. However, if you're going for a casual vibe, the Beach Bar would be amazing. They even have tables and chairs in the sand. Good luck!

Hi All! So so so happy & thankful I found this thread! I am getting married in St John on Trunk Bay May 6th 2014. We are staying at the Marrriott Frenchmen's Reef in St Thomas. I am having trouble deciding the logistics of our actual wedding day. I originally wanted to take a private boat from st thomas to st john, get married, get pictures taken, get back on the boat and go back to st thomas for dinner at the marriott, however, I think my plans are changing.

After speaking with the marriott, I was bummed. They told me I could not make a reservation for 35 and that I would have to do a banquet in one of their event spaces. I didn't really want to use any of their spaces so I asked if they could just serve us dinner on the beach. They charge a $2000 set up fee in addition to each persons dinner and alcohol bill. It seemed very pricey to me to just set up dinner and chairs on the beach. I have a rather large budget, but I am not down to get ripped off.

I am wondering if anyone could recommend a place in st john for a dinner. I really would prefer a "beach party" after dinner, but I haven't even suggested this to Marriott yet... thoughts anyone?

Also, we are getting married in the afternoon. I want to get pictures done after our ceremony... what do i do with that time lapse for our guests? We didnt want to have a formal cocktail hour but does that mean they just hang out on the beach? I feel a little overwhelmed with everything and would appreciate advice!!